People well-known in art, sport, film, fashion

Category Archive: Theatre

Nino Chavchavadze was called “the black rose of Tiflis”. This woman was mourning for 28 years after the death of her husband – Russian poet, diplomat and composer Alexander Griboyedov, the author of the immortal Woe from Wit.
The diplomat, writer and composer Alexander Griboyedov was 17 years older than Nino Chavchavadze. And he knew the girl from her childhood. Little Nino called the Russian diplomat Uncle Sandro. He often visited her father’s house. Alexander Chavchavadze was a Georgian poet and governor of several regions in Georgia. The friendship of two Alexanders was not accidental. Chavchavadze was one of the most educated people of his country and his time. Griboyedov showed himself as a unique personality.
In his youth, the future author of the play Woe from Wit studied at three faculties of the Moscow University. In addition, Griboyedov was an excellent musician: several works written by him, including two great waltzes, reached us.
Extraordinary abilities helped Alexander to become successful in his diplomatic career. In 1819, at the age of 24, Griboyedov liberated the Russian soldiers who were in Persian captivity. Since then he became a diplomat in Persia and quickly learned Persian.More »

Durov is a famous surname in the history of Russia. The representatives of this dynasty are popular actors and circus performers. You know, Nadezhda Durova, the heroine of the war of 1812, the legendary cavalry-girl, is among the ancestors of the glorious dynasty. By the way, she was Kutuzov’s adjutant during the Patriotic War. After the war she even turned her house into a small menagerie. Nadezhda took the abandoned and sick animals that she met on her way. Her descendants were fond of animals too.
For many years Vladimir Durov’s name was on the hoardings of Russia and many other countries. He was a popular circus performer whose bold wit always drew applause and laughter. Actually, he used to call himself a clown, or jester, but in fact he was a deep thinker, an accomplished musician and sculptor, and the author of many interesting books for children. What is more, Vladimir had an immense knowledge of animal psychology and wrote a number of serious works on the subject which won wide acclaim from scientists abroad.More »

Barbara Brylska is a Soviet and Polish film and theater actress, a singer. She became a laureate of the State Prize of the USSR in 1977. In the republics of the former USSR, she is best known for the role of Nadia Shevelyova, the main character in the film The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath by film director Eldar Ryazanov. In 2008, she was a member of the jury of the entertainment TV program Two Stars-2 on Channel 1.
Pretty girl was born on June 5, 1941 in Skotniki, Poland.
Her acting career began right after school. For the first time she appeared on the screen in Bogdzevich’s film Galoshes of Fortune.
Since childhood, Barbara was very beautiful. A graceful long-legged girl with beautiful thick hair could not leave the opposite sex indifferent. Young handsome Jan Borovets from Warsaw fell in love at first sight with a beautiful stranger and did his best to find her. Their acquaintance ended in a wedding. But did Barbara dream of this? Personal life demanded a significant sacrifice. At that time the girl studied at the theater institute and dreamed of becoming an actress. Teachers predicted her great success. However, the conservative family of her husband did not share the choice of their daughter-in-law. And Jan wanted her to be a housewife. So, the girl left the university. For two months, Barbara was an exemplary wife. But very soon she got bored and returned to the theater institute. As an exception, the girl was allowed to attend lectures. Soon the young actress was offered the first roles.More »

It is said that on the day when the future great dancer Vaslav Nijinsky was born, whether the Emperor himself, or someone from the Grand Dukes arranged a small feast for the ballet troupe at the Mariinsky Theater. An elegant silver cup was one of the prizes for the soloists. Vaslav’s father jumped up and caught the prize thrown by monarch. “It will become my son’s talisman!”, he cried. But he was wrong. Soon his father left the family. And a woman became his talisman…
Many things in the life of the remarkable ballet dancer were strange and mysterious. For example, his famous, truly fantastic jump on the stage. It seemed that Nijinsky freely floated in the air. Nobody else could do the same. People even looked for carefully hidden springs in his shoes. However, they did not find anything!More »

Konstantin Stanislavsky was a Russian theater director, actor and teacher, theater reformer. Actually, he was the creator of the famous system of actor training, which has a great popularity in Russia and in the world. In 1936 Stanislavsky became the first People’s Artist of the USSR. To tell the truth, he was one of the most influential theater personalities of the twentieth century.
In 1888 he became a founding member of the Moscow Society of Art and Literature. In 1898, together with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko he founded the Moscow Art Theatre.
Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (his real surname was Alexeyev) was born on January 17, 1863 in Moscow. He was born into a large family (he had nine brothers and sisters) of a famous industrialist. Nikolai Alekseev, Mayor of Moscow, was his cousin. Konstantin’s younger sister Zinaida Sokolova was Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
In 1878-1881 he studied in the gymnasium at the Lazarev Institute. His excellent classical education included singing, ballet, and acting lessons as well as regular visits to the opera and theater.More »

Mikhail Shchepkin was a Russian actor, one of the founders of the Russian actor’s school.
The boy was born on November 6 (17), 1788 in Kursk province into a family of the serfs.
From 1799 to 1801 he studied at the Sudzhansky public school. During his studies, in 1800, he played his first role in Sumarokov’s comedy – Vzdorschitsa.
In 1801-1802 he played in a serf theater of Count G. S. Volkenshtein.
By the way, in 1805, he performed on the professional scene for the first time. Since that time, with the permission of Count G. S. Volkenshtein, Shchepkin played in the Barsov Brothers Theater.More »

Sergei Lazarev is a singer, dancer and actor. He was born on April 1, 1983 in Moscow, Russia. His parents divorced when the boy was quite small and his mother brought up two sons alone. At the age of four the future singer was engaged in gymnastics. Sergei became interested in music in his childhood and performed with various children’s ensembles. Also the boy acted in the theater by Boris Pokrovsky.
In 1995, Lazarev became a soloist of the children’s collective Neposedy, the same group in which Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina (t.A.T.u.) met each other. The group participated in various well-known TV shows and festivals.
You know, in September 1996, Sergei won the first prize at the contest Bravo Bravissimo in Italy.
In 1999, the future celebrity entered the Moscow Art Theatre School and graduated from it with honors in 2003.
Lazarev’s career began with a group Smash!. Aspiring singer created it together with his friend Vlad Topalov. Vlad’s mother advised to record an aria from the popular musical Notre-Dame De Paris as a birthday present for Topalov Senior.More »